JREED23 wrote:i think you need to go check out Runzler's numbers: http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/runzlda01.shtml I don't know what you mean by shaky but the guy hasn't given up a run since he's been back from his injury. Also, what "old form" you are referring to? The guy didn't look too great earlier this year, and only had 11 games before this season... Truth is, Runzler looks better after his injury and Affeldt does not.

You're probably right about the games Boch is playing with Zito and the roster, but last I checked the Braves were a pretty lefty heavy lineup so I wouldn't be surprised to see Zito and/or Mad Bum get a start.

Affeldt would be nice but, Dan's the man. Whoa, well I can't argue with that logic. Your second post is better. I'm aware of Runzler's stats, and nothing in that page jumped out at me. Also, "what "old form" you are referring to? Wow, how quickly you forget, Affeldt was a stud last year as our setup man. He had an ERA of 1.73! At one particular point when Wilson was shaky there were a number of people who thought that they should give him a shot at closer. I'm sorry you didn't like the word "shaky" but both Runzler and Affeldt had control problems earlier. I don't think either of them have pitched enough in the last month, to really evaluate if they've come back. The sample is pretty sparce with both of them but Affeldt has pitched twice as many innings. I'd like Runzler, I think he's got a future with us. But I hope you won't get too upset if Bochy picks Affeldt because he just had a kid. Heh Heh HehAs you see this roster question, that I brought up a week ago is a lot more complicated and interesting if we can't play 33 players.

Hope you weren't trying to patronize me with the "Whoa, well I can't argue with that logic." comment... If so I think you may have taken me out of context a little there... Well, not just a little, more like completely... "I understand that having some playoff exp with Affeldt would be nice but, Dan's the man."

I believe you misread my second post entirely, because I wasn't talking about Affeldt...

I'll get upset if either of them see more than .1 innings in a game because there are far better options, besides that, I really don't care.

Well, I haven't heard every detail, but Zito and Guillen are out and Mota and Ishikawa, Renterria, Rowand are in. I'm down with that. We talk about whose been hot lately. Affeldt, Renterria, Ishikawa, Guillen, and Rowand have been pretty cold. I thought Mota was all but gone , but he has had a couple of good starts in the last week, mostly when it didn't matter greatly, hey but that's his job.What has surprised me about is that it seems like Bochy gave Guillen the longest leash. When we got Ross, it seemed like Bochy's attitude was that he'll have to win playing time from Guillen. Day after day, Bochy put Guillen in the lineup. But one thing is for sure, Guillen's injury is a liability. I know he came in with the rep that he's trouble. I don't think he was but he didn't seem to gell all that well with the spirit of what was going on, though I could be wrong. I won't miss him next year.

Regarding Zito, Bochy obviously considers him poor for the long relief role. I'm not sure how specialized that role really is. I would have preferred Runzler to Mota, but then Bochy really hasn't let Runzler pitch for more than an inning, so I can see in Bochy's mind Mota is the choice. I'm not sure how much it would matter, and I'm hardly going to worry about Zito.

Mota isn't all that surprising considering that he has been there all season and was one of the, if not the, most consistent RP up until July. August was a forgettable month for him though, with far less good outings than bad. It looks like he has maybe gotten back on track lately though.

Looks like you're right about Affeldt, but I still feel the same way in that, I hope we don't depend on him for more than 1-2 outs. Look for Lopez to get a lot more work throughout the series than the 1 or so outs he is used to, that is if Affeldt doesn't reestablish his sink and start turning out more ground balls.

Jose Guillen was the big shocker for me, initially, but looking at his number lately - the dude is really cold, but I think the "sore neck" is an excuse. I'm not sure if Boche's determining factors here were based on who as been cold, rather who he feels could get hot (we'll settle for warm)

Yay! To think only a month ago, I thought Timmy would be solid but would probably never get back to greatness. What a comeback!---14K's???.

Kudos to Bochy, To think it took him 6 whole weeks to consistently start Ross over Guillen, but he got it right and Ross gets the big RBI. ( Though it should have been fielded )Posey get 2 hits. It's about time we get a game winning blown call.That's what I call the "Ass Plopping" slide technique.

yeah, boch made a good decision on Guillen (who apparently an injury was really affecting him). Ross is great defensively, and has hit well since joining the Giants.

Cain is coming off an awful start. Boch will have his entire bullpen to use for tonights game if Cain struggles (no game tomorrow, so relievers can pitch more than an inning, without worrying too much about pitch count)

This is the third time this year that that Cain has been pulled while pitching well and the Giants have blown 2 three run leads and one 4 run lead. Poor guy.A couple of months ago I was down on Bochy for pulling starters who were pitching well, and then bringing in our mediocre bullpen. Since then the bullpen has become lights out. So while I can’t trash on Bochy, I don’t think a 2 out 7th inning single merited pulling Cain. I would have allowed him one more base runner, and even if he allowed that, the tying run would have only been at the plate. Most likely Cain would have got out of the inning just as Lopez did, and of course, it would have been interesting to see how well he would have fared in the 8th and maybe the 9th ...He certainly didn’t have his best stuff, but he was getting further in the game and he extended Lincecum’s spell of innings without an earned run, and that was a powerful advantage to have over the Braves.. We ended up letting them off the mat, which I realize might have happened anyway. But I guess we’ll never know.

No matter how dependable your bullpen , the more pitchers you use the more likely that one of those pitchers won’t have a good day. In this case it was Romo. I do think managers who were weak hitting , good- pitcher- handling catchers as players could have a tendency as managers to over manage their pitching staff, and I think Bochy does.. I think he jumps the gun a lot, and he has had very good success, but we’ll never know how much more successful he would have been , if he had done less. Easy to second guess the skipper, Fountenot’s bat was wasted, and finally at the end, I don’t believe we had a pinch hitter left after Ishikawa. Still when I say this, I’ve gained a lot of respect for Bochy this year.

It is interesting that in big games, team’s inherent weaknesses show. Burrell (, who I felt I knew was going to make that big 3 run jack in the first inning ) is unfortunately a very lumbering weak fielder, as is Sandoval, and they both cost us. Of course so is Uribe, but he did temporarily disprove the naysayer’s with that great dive and throw out.Atlanta has good pitching, but we do see our lack of discipline as a hitting team. Sanchez, Huff, Torres and particularly Sandoval just don’t seem relaxed.. So let’s hope Sanchez can restore our pitching supremacy.

Sandoval is a poor fielder, who isn't hitting well. Uribe strikes out way too much, as he is solely focused on hitting a homerun (versus just going to base). I think bochey pulled Burrell way to early yesterday for Schierholtz, which might have hurt us in getting an extra base runner. Cain pitched great. I think Bochey should have given Romo 1 more batter, to redeem himself to getting out of his mess (versus bringing wilson to do 6 outs). Rodriguez can't do more than an inning, and bochey over played him this time (they still have castillla for pete's sake).

Oh well, now we have to listen to the stupid brave chant that they play in atlanta's stadium every minute during the playoff games.

What a glorious game! this is the first time I can remember a playoff victory right after we were down to our last strike! And it feels great.

But Huff, and Sanchez ended up saving Bochy and Romo's ass. Again Bochy pulls Sanchez and ends up blowing a lead. Bochy has shown me he was better than I first thought he was. But he's done the worst overmanaging we've ever had. In the press conference after the game he doesn't appear repentant either. Sanchez said he felt great when he was pulled, OK I guess you should expect that. At least he should have been given the opportunity to not allow one more baserunner.It's discouraging to be watching the game, and fear the camera going to Bochy in the dugout and watch him go through his constipated little hemming and hawing dance and walk out to the mound, after you watched your starter make it into the 8th inning hurling a masterpiece and allowing his first real hit.

I'm more of a cup-is-half- filled kind of guy, But I see this as a playoff problem that won't go away, and I would hope Bochy could learn from his mistakes.

well, bochy allowing lincicum to pitch 120 pitches on Thursday, so having the win allows for bumgardner to pitch tonight, while Lowe pitches on 3 days rest... lets hope the bats finally show up and make the most of it.

BTW, how about Brooks Conrad.... 4 errors in 3 games (plus an additional 4 errors on the final four games of the regular season.)

Mr. Crackerz wrote:well, bochy allowing lincicum to pitch 120 pitches on Thursday, so having the win allows for bumgardner to pitch tonight, while Lowe pitches on 3 days rest... lets hope the bats finally show up and make the most of it.

BTW, how about Brooks Conrad.... 4 errors in 3 games (plus an additional 4 errors on the final four games of the regular season.)

Yeah, You gotta feel sorry for the guy. The muffled double play in the first was really the worst. Cody Ross's fly should have been handled by Heyward, but it should have been ruled a hit. Obviously Posey's hit was critical. It's hard to know how hard a play that was, but definitely an error.